Geokge ceouch



(No Medal.)

G. CROUCH.

TRUNK.

No. 339,621. Paigented Apr. 13, 1886.

llnrrno Sir arcs ATENT Grinch.

GEORGE GROUGH, OF NEi-V YORK, N. Y.

TRUNK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 339,621 dated April 13, 1886.

Serial No. 187,863. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE CROUCH, of Sew York city, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Trunks, of which I declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and fig ures of reference thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The present invention has for its object to more securely and certainly fasten the walls of a trunk together in the process of manufacturing the trunk; and it consists of the devices hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of atrunk-box having my improved fastening devices. Fig. 2 shows a modification of the fastening device.

A A A. are the inclosing-walls forming the trunk, being the ends, sides, and bottom of the body of the trunk, and the ends, sides, and top of the lid of the trunk. I'Ieretofore these walls, where any two of them meet and form a joint, have been simply nailedtogether, or have in addition been secured by rigid metallic anglepieces wholly on the outside or wholly on the inside of the trunk, the two walls meeting and touching each other along their entire length or width. Under the ordinary strains of use the walls of the trunk under these circumstances are liable to bulge inward or outward, moving sidewise against the hold of the nails, and moving inward or outward away from the metallic angle-pieces, thereby starting and loosening the joint. My improved fastening avoids this liability.

B B are the fastening-strips. They are made of stout canvas or of other fibrous and sufficiently strong and durable material. They are of any desired length, width, and thickness, so long as they are capable of being combined with the walls of the trunk, as hereinafter described.

Fig. 1 shows in detail the method of this combination. A A are, say, the end vertical wall of the trunk, and the bottom horizontal wall of the trunk. The fastening-strip B is placed between these two walls at their line of joining, as shown in the drawings. One

end of the strip is then securely fastened by riveting or otherwise to the inside or upper tween the same two walls and alongside of 60 the first;. but its inner end is securely fastened to the inner surface of the end wall, and

its outer end is securely fastened to the outer surface of the bottom wall of the trunk. More than two fasteningstrips may be used at one joint, as desired, and it is preferable to nail the walls together also, and metallic angle pieces may also be used to any extent. A groove or seat for the strip B may, if desired, be cut in the wall of the trunk at the position where the strip is to be placed between the two walls, and of the thickness of the strip, in order that the joint between the two walls may be a tight one along the rest of its length. Each joint of the trunk is treated as described above. The covering and lining of the trunk are then applied in the usual Way, covering the strips B from sight, and also serving to secure them in place.

It is an advantage of my improvementthat the strain upon the fasteningstrip is exactly and always in the direction of its length, in which direction it is strongest, and because of its fibrous structure is slightly elastic or yielding, and in which direct-ion, also, the strain has none of the powerful leverage which it has at times against the hold of nails or of the rigid angle-pieces. Again, the strain is in such direction that the fastening-strip can be most advantageously and securely fastened to the wall of the trunk, along which it lies, without any liability to work loose, as is the case with the old rigid angle-pieces, and the slight yielding of the fastening'strips, by reason of their own elasticity, to any sudden strain prevents breakage or loosening at the joint.

The form of the strip 13 may be varied without departing from my invention. Such a variation is shown at O in Figs. 1 and 2, where the strip is twice slit or cut longitudinally at one end, and only one of the three separate ends so formed at that end of the strip is carried between the walls of the trunk and secured to the inner surface of the bottom wall, the uncut end of the strip being secured to the outer surface of the front wall, and the remaining ends at the cut end of the strip being secured to the outer surface of the bottom wall.

My improvementis embodied when the canvas or other suitable fastening-strip is so combined with any two walls of a trunk that any part of it passes between those two walls at their junction, and the strip is at the one end secured to t-heinner surface ofone wall, and is at the other end secured to the outer surface of the other wall, and two of such strips are mounted in reverse.

It is an important advantage of my fastening device that each strip prevents any great motion of the wall of the trunk in the direction tending to loosen the other strip, and

trunk are avoided.

the inner surface of one wall and the other end to the outer surface of the other wall, and

' one end of the other strip being secured to the inner surface of the second wall and the other end to the outer surface of the first wall, whereby a securely permanent and tight joint is formed, and any loosening motion of either wall inward or outward at the joint is prevented, substantially as and for the purposes 5 set forth. cushions and deadens such slight motion as occurs, whereby, also, the strains upon the other strip that might result from a sudden g GEO. CROUCH.

\Vitnesses:

W. H. KENYON, R. N. KENYON. 

